5 Biggest Takeaways for Los Angeles Angels Following MLB Opening Week

Following just one week in a marathon of a baseball season, it's easy to overreact to any fact or statistic. It's also just as easy to ignore anything and everything that's happened, saying it's too early to form an opinion.

The most useful reactions fall somewhere in between. Yes, it's stupid to be worried about Jered Weaver because he is off to a slow start. He's only pitched 10.1 innings! But it's also silly to ignore everything that has happened and close your eyes, claiming small sample size.

Here is the happy medium of takeaways worth paying attention to.

AL West standings

Los Angeles may be in last place in the American League West at 2-4, but that is hardly something worth fretting over. After all, first place is just one game away since no team in the West has started off the season well.

The Angels fell victim to the rolling Royals, getting swept in their three-game series. But the season's first series seems like a more relevant result.

There, LA won two out of three against division rival and perhaps West favorite Seattle. Those were the bigger results. No one will remember the series against Kansas City within a few weeks.

Mike Trout

So this guy is pretty good. That is not news. The 12 total bases in six games is fine. The 1.058 OPS is right up there with anyone not named Adrian Gonzalez. The interesting stat to keep an eye on with Trout, though, will be the strikeouts.

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Last year, Trout struck out 184 times, close to 50 more times than either of his previous seasons. He also ran a lot less. With six Ks already this year in six games, is this a sign of the times for Trout as he focuses more on his power game?

It's quite possible that his steals will go back up this season even if the strikeouts remain. After all, everyone strikes out a ton nowadays. It's the era we're in. The K is not the black mark it used to be. But it is still worth checking back on Trout's strikeouts, power numbers and steal attempts as we get a month or more into the season.

C.J. Wilson's ceiling

Was there any better sighting than C.J. Wilson's line after his first start of the season? Wilson threw eight shutout innings against Seattle, allowing three total baserunners. It was the best outing he has had since early last season and proved he is still capable of bringing it.

Wilson got knocked around in his next start, but these things are bound to happen. The performance that proved his ceiling is still high is the more important takeaway.

Cron and Joyce

Because of the situation involving Josh Hamilton and the fact that he may never play another game for the Angels, C.J. Cron and Matt Joyce are both regulars in this lineup. They have shown flashes in previous seasons that hint at their potential. Neither one, though, is building manager Mike Scioscia's confidence thus far in 2015.

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

Cron and Joyce are a combined 3-for-31 to start the season. Small sample size alert, yes. But there is still something to the fact that neither one has grabbed ahold of the starting lineup spot gifted to them.

It would be silly to suggest either one should lose playing time over this beginning. It is simply worth keeping an eye on how these two perform with 450 to 550 at-bats apiece in their future.

Steals or lack thereof

The Angels as an entire team have yet to steal a base this season. It's only been six games, but for point of comparison, Cincinnati's Billy Hamilton already has seven steals by himself. Of course, LA's opponents have only stolen one bag, so perhaps it's statistical noise.

Trout will steal some; as will Erick Aybar. However, outside of those two players, the team has no speedsters. Early results indicate LA may be relying on a lot of station-to-station baseball.